"Now."

Warwick Bennett's gaze returned to Kyle, his expression unmistakable and authoritative. "May we observe the ceremony in peace and contentment, Lord Spence?"

"The ceremony is about to begin. This is a glorious moment for our Lord, the Lord of Bones, and a precious opportunity for you to witness how 'decay' gives birth to 'rebirth'. Do not waste this... invitation."

Its words were calm, yet carried a pressure as heavy as a mountain.

The air in the tent seemed to freeze, leaving only Ruby's suppressed gasps of pain and the faint, heart-pounding hum of energy coming from the direction of the altar.

Kyle's hands clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He looked at his seriously injured companions and the unfathomable enemy before him.

Anger, humiliation, and powerlessness bit his heart like poisonous snakes.

But he knew that any impulsive resistance at this moment would only bring destruction.

If he was the only one here, he might do the same as when he faced Bishop Stan alone in the Blood Crystal Mine, and would cause irreparable damage to the other party even if it meant burning his own life.

But when he has companions around him, he will do his best to protect his companions, just like when Mark broke into the crack in the mine.

This might be the reason why the teacher insisted on having Ruby stay by his side after returning to the Holy City.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress the surging holy light and anger. Only cold determination and a hidden cold light remained in his golden eyes.

He slowly walked over to Ruby, crouched down, and carefully lifted her up against him.

He used his body to block Ruby's angry and determined gaze, and at the same time silently mobilized the gentle power of holy light, trying to ease her pain and stabilize her injuries.

He didn't look at Warwick and Spence again, but just showed his choice with his actions.

Stay and watch the ceremony.

"Wise." Warwick Bennett murmured and ignored the two men.

It stood up at the same time as Spin Canberra and walked out of the tent.

Only Kyle and the seriously injured Ruby were left in the tent, as well as the increasingly clear energy hum that seemed to come from the depths of the earth and from the wails of countless dead souls.

The ceremony of the Enlightenment Society has begun.

Kyle looked outside through the gap in the tent.

He saw a dozen figures also dressed in black robes emerge from the shadows of the swamp like ghosts, walking silently towards the six bone platforms of the altar.

They began to chant, and the ancient and difficult spells overlapped and resonated in the air, causing the magic cloud flowing on the altar to become brighter and brighter!

The pale green mist above Wulong Lake began to surge violently, like boiling ink, slowly converging and settling towards the center of the island.

The runes engraved on the six bone altars lit up one by one, emitting negative energy fluctuations that resonated with the heart.

In the center of the altar, within the pitch-black skeleton of the fallen dragon, something seemed to be slowly gathering in its empty eye sockets.

Ruby opened her eyes with difficulty, the severe pain making her delicate face twisted, but her eyes were like the flames in the deepest part of the icy hell, staring at Kyle's profile.

There was no fear in Ruby's eyes, only a kind of humiliation that was almost tangible, anger, and... a silent questioning of Kyle's compromise at this moment.

Kyle felt her gaze, but he didn't look back.

He simply held her shaking body tighter while releasing holy light to heal Ruby's injuries.

While his eyes were fixed on the pitch-black dragon skeleton in the center of the altar, the holy light in the depths of his golden pupils was roaring silently like suppressed lava.

The holy light in his heart told him that he must wait.

Waiting for a slim chance, perhaps one that doesn't exist at all.

For Ruby, and for...the souls in Osborne who are about to be sacrificed.

————

Deep within the Rotten Dragon Swamp, there is a smell of decay that is thicker and more pungent than outside.

The pale green miasma was like a living veil, entwining the gnarled and twisted dead trees.

The mud under your feet is shining with a strange oily sheen, and you have to be extremely careful with every step, as if you might awaken the ancient undead sleeping beneath the mud at any time.

Mark's team is traveling through an area called "Dragon Scale Wetlands" by adventurers.

This place is only a dozen miles away from the Wulong Lake in the center of the Corrupted Dragon Swamp.

The ground here is not pure mud, but is covered with layers of overlapping, hard, iron-like dark brown keratin.

In the dim light, it gleams with a dull luster, as if it were made of the scales shed from a giant dragon.

The air was so thick that you could almost squeeze water out of it, and it was mixed with a smell similar to rotten eggs, which was suffocating.

Anna's long elf ears trembled slightly under her hood, and her sharp eyes penetrated the mist, vigilantly scanning every shadow in the wetland ahead.

Enzo's short and strong body followed closely beside Mark, and the small hammer on his waist swayed silently with his steps.

Monica held Xiao Mu in her arms, her figure blending into the environment like a shadow, her breath almost invisible.

Mark walked in front, the cross necklace on his chest emitting a faint holy light, continuously injecting magic power into everyone's holy light shield.

Sudden!

"call out--!"

Without warning, a shrill sound that tore through the air shot out from a tangled patch of dead trees on the left!

The target is directly at Mark's temple!

The timing was extremely tricky, occurring at the moment when the team's attention was slightly distracted while marching.

Fast! Ruthless! Accurate!

However, Mark didn't even look back.

His arm seemed to have its own will, and the moment the arrow left the string, it was raised up like lightning as if grabbing a cross necklace!

“Buzz!”

The holy light suddenly became brighter, and the cross necklace instantly stretched and deformed.

It transformed into a cross-arm shield with sharp edges and flowing holy light, accurately blocking the arrow's trajectory!

"clang--!"

The crisp sound of metal clashing was particularly harsh in the dead silence of the wetland!

This is the combat technique that Enzo taught Mark's team. When encountering a battle, there is no need to focus on what you want to focus on.

Even if you can't accurately grasp the position of your attack, you only need to use the corner of your eye to determine it.

You need to quickly scan the surrounding environment to be prepared for subsequent attacks that may come at any time!

As early as after entering the Corrupted Dragon Swamp, Mark's team had been on full alert all around.

Even though this attack came from outside the perception range of Mark's skills, it still did not have the effect of a surprise attack.

A fine steel arrow tempered with a dark blue poisonous light hit the arm shield, emitting a streak of dazzling sparks, and then was shattered!

The magic power attached to it collided with the "holy light", making a sizzling sound and was annihilated in an instant.

Mark's figure did not move at all, the holy light flowed on the arm shield, and slowly returned to the shape of a necklace and fell down.

His cold gaze was like two real ice cones, shooting in the direction of the arrow.

"Tsk, quite quick reaction. As expected of someone who could crawl out from the bottom of Falling Star Lake."

Accompanied by a hoarse voice filled with teasing and greed, several figures emerged from the shadows of dead trees and swamps like ghosts, vaguely surrounding Mark's team in a fan shape.